REA lights over 5, 000 in Muchinga

“REA would return to the province for the second phase, to do a distance of six kilometres so that the people that have not benefitted from ESAP are captured.’’

THREE thousand, three hundred and forty thousand out of 5, 940 households a e een electrified y t e ural lectrification Authority (REA) under the World Bank funded Electricity Service Access Project (ESAP) in Muchinga Province.

REA Director Engineering, Patrick Mubanga, said they have of June this year managed to connect half of the targeted 22, 000 people, with Nakonbe having the highest power connections. “With this project, we have captured 10 schools and staff houses and two palaces in Chief Nkweto and Mubanga’s areas,” he said. Mr Mubanga disclosed this in Chinsali on Tuesday when REA staff and Presidential assistant for project administration and implementation, Andrew Chela, paid a courtesy call on Muchinga Permanent Secretary Joyce Bwacha. “REA would return to the province for the second phase, to do a distance of six kilometres so that the people that have not benefitted from ESAP are captured,” he said. Mr Mubanga said under ESAP, REA has included a ready board which is a meter meant for non-permanent houses, like grass-thatched houses, were standard internal wiring could not be done. And Mr Mubanga has said REA was also working on four other projects in Chinsali, Isoka and Nakonde. “We will push to complete the projects so that people are connected. People really want to have power, after this exercise will see where we can make improvements as REA,” said Mr Mubanga. And Ms Bwacha said they were happy with the project, as a province, to have benefited about , Ms Bwacha appealed to REA to expedite the implementation of the Musanya project as it was critical to the repair works on K1.4billion Chinsali-IsokaNakonde road. She said the contractor, China Seventh Rail roup of Companies, was already on the site and had put up a quarry crushing plant which required electricity to work. “It is common knowledge that this is an economical road and it has it has been worn out for some time now, the problem is we have accidents day in day out,” she said.